How do women from the West differ in style
from the rest of the country?
The ladies that come into us in Beverly Hills
generally have a special occasion coming up.
What strikes me is that they are always willing
to leave their comfort zone and try something
unique, individual and stylish which in my
eyes sums up the women from the west.

Top style tips?
Trends come and go from season to season
but, what truly suits your individual shape
wont change that often. Stick with the colours
that complEment your complection and the
styles that excentuate your assets.

What item of clothing can you not live
without?
My jeans – casual or dressy they always look
good.

Your most extravagant purchase?
My wedding dress – I love it!

Who do you most admire in business?
I am aware of the effort and hard work that is
involved in running your own business and for
that reason I admire many different people in
business.

Who is your style icon?
Victoria Beckham – Flawless fashion sense.
We cater for debs, weddings, the races and
parties.

Beverly Hills
Eglinton Street, Galway.
(Beside the GPO)
091 533849

Related posts:

1. Dressing the West…Stephanie Lynch
2. Dressing the West – Tina Monroe
3. Dressing the West – Rosemarie Noone

Sonia is mother to one-year-old Eamonn
“Since having my son nine months ago, the biggest change I’ve experienced is the massive sense of responsibility. The first six weeks I couldn’t believe that my husbandand I were completely responsible for this baby. Not knowing if you’re doing the rightthing is the scariest part but after a while, I think mums get used to a routine and it’s notas daunting. Our lives revolve around Eamonn’s and I love that it does. Being organised isa necessity but I’ve always liked being organised. Now Eamonn organises my life!I find that I am much more relaxed since having my baby. If I’m having a crazy busyday, then I find Eamonn is crazy busy as well, but if I’m having a relaxing day at home,Eamonn just chills out with me and we have plenty of nap times; it really proves that children do feed off their surroundings. I’ve also become much more emotional since hav-ing him. Sometimes even watching the news can really upset me. My priorities have definitely changed since becoming a mum, but I don’t think mylifestyle has changed as much as I thought it would. I still socialise although not as muchas I did, but it really makes me appreciate a night out – thanks to Eamonn’s fabulous grandparents. Of course, priorities change as your baby’s needs must come first butyou also have to make time for your husband and some you-time.The greatest joy is the overwhelming feeling of love that I feel when I lookat Eamonn or when he smiles at me. It’s not like any love I have ever experienced. When Eamonn makes a new noise and constantly doesthat noise for the whole day, it really sends me into fits of laughter.Also, his love of chewing on a wooden spoon. No matter what toyyou give him, he loves the wooden spoon. I think he mightgrow up to be a good cook like his daddy!There are so many challenges for mothers these daysand I, like a lot of mums, work so leaving Eamonn togo to work is tough. But it makes you cherish the timeyou spend with your children a lot more. I also thinkthat mums can be tough on themselves in terms ofdoubting whether they are doing things right orwrong. I’m the first to ask for help whenever I’munsure and I’ve never tried to be superwoman; I might have gotten driving lessons but I never got ‘looking after ababy’ lessons! Nevertheless, you canonly do your best and if your baby ishealthy and happy, then I thinkyou’re onto a winner!”

Lorraine is the mother of Leah 3, and Rowan, 2
“The single biggest way in which motherhood has changed my life isthe fact that I’m no longer my main priority. The responsibility ofhaving this tiny person rely entirely on you for everything is terrifying at first, but it brings a new purpose to each day.  The feeling oflove and protectiveness that you feel for this little being can’t be put intowords and has made me a happier, more attentive person. I can nowunderstand the phrase that ‘a mother’s love has no bounds’!  I think I’ve also become less selfish because my priorities have changed.As my children are growing up and learning more, so am I. I tend toquestion my decisions more as I know that they will affect my family andnot just me. I’m aware that I have much to learn as a parent and I’menjoying the process…and of course I’m making mistakes along the way.I enjoy simple things more now which my children love doing likesinging a silly song or making up stories. I definitely appreciate my owntime more and try to make the most of any alone time I have.My greatest joy is when Leah or Rowan come and give me a hug or akiss for no reason; hearing them laugh so hard that it makes me laugh; orjust being able to make them feel better by giving them a cuddle is veryspecial. Seeing the joy that they also bring to the lives of their grandparents and aunts and uncles is incredible. Every little milestonethat they achieve makes me feel so proud of them – I’m constantlyamazed at how fast they learn things.My greatest challenge would be time. Trying to find a balance betweenspending time with my children, alone time with my husband, working,catching up with friends and time out for myself is one of the biggestchallenges I face as a mother.Knowing what is the right thing to do in various situations can also bevery difficult.  If one of the children are sick, do we call a doctor, go to ahospital or just cuddle them until they feel better? Making decisions thatcan effect the rest of their lives like which school should they go to, thebest way to discipline – the list just goes on – can be frightening.Motherhood has changed my life in an entirely positive way, but itdefinitely has its challenges. When I hear my daughter saying phrases tomy younger son that I know she picked up from my husband or I is veryfunny, but also makes me aware of how we act and what we do and sayin every day life will shape the person that our children will become. Ican’t really put into words how our lives have been transformed over thepast three years. I actually can’t imagine what we did with our timebefore they arrived! With all its challenges and uncertainties, I can safelysay that my life is much happier and more fulfiled with our children init. I do have to say that my husband Tom and I are both very lucky tohave supportive, helpful and loving families who are very involved in ourchildren’s lives. Parenthood, in my eyes, would be much more difficultwithout this support and love from our parents, brothers and sisters – sothanks to you all!

”Nicola is the mother of nine-month-old Charlie “The greatest change in my life since having Charlieis the totally overwhelming feeling of love that Ihave for him. It really is something that is wonderful but frightening, all at the same time. Youbring this bundle of joy into your life and it’s just soamazing how much you love them and would do anything for them, but if anything happened, in asecond your life would totally change.When Charlie was three months old, I suddenlyrealised that I had changed as a person; I’d never be the oldme again. I panicked at first, but then I realised that thechange that had happened was a good one. It’s hard to pinpoint just one major change; I think it’s many little things.I feel that now I am a more open person; I’m not afraid tosay how I’m feeling.The first six to eight weeks after Charlie arrived was like atornado just ripped through our lives. The getting up everythree to four hours to feed wasn’t so bad; it was the smallertasks, like going to the shop for bread and milk – it was likea mini military operation, but now I have it down to a fineart. After those few weeks, things settled down and we real-ly started to enjoy it. Now we can’t imagine what we didbefore he came. We try every weekend to do things as afamily, whereas before we did what we needed to do. Of course your priorities change – hugely. Before, it couldtake me hours to get ready to go anywhere, now I can beready in half an hour. It might still sound like a lot but it’s ahuge improvement. Everything we do now, we stop tothink how it will effect Charlie, and he’s always put first, heis our only priority.The greatest challenge I find is making decisions thatcould affect him for the rest of his life. With the wholeSwine Flu scare recently, we agonised over whether to givehim the vaccination or not. We finally decided to give it tohim, but I really was so unsure about it, worrying whetherhe’d suffer side effects etc. I really was not expecting to haveto make such a big decision so soon into motherhood. Itjust made me realise how hard it must be for parents whohave children that are sick to make such decisions for themon a daily basis. On the day he had the vaccination, I felt soexhausted from worry. The other challenges ahead that Ithink about even now are education, and the terrible teens!”

Katherine is the mother of one-year-old Melanie
“The only way I can describe the way that motherhood has changed mylife is that I am now a mum; caring for someone more than for myself.My cooking skills have improved and that’s no harm, and I’d like tothink I’m a little bit more organised. Obviously, my time is less of my ownand I will never understand why I don’t mind that so much. I always feel Ihave a reason to smile, not that I ever considered myself a pessimistic person, but to be honest I never had my heart and soul set on having children either and now that it’s happened, I consider myself one of theluckiest people in the world. I am so proud of my daughter already; she isthe happiest little girl and is more than I could ever have imagined. As a person I’ve changed completely since having Mel. I think I’m a littlemore serious; I don’t know if that’s good or bad yet. I think I’ve learned alot about myself and have become more open to trying something new. I’vedefinitely become very family-oriented too, and having to become a plannerhas proved to be very beneficial to the family – before, I did everything atthe last minute. Having the baby meant I needed to be a little bit morestructured, but I’m loving that too. I’m finally doing things I had put off foryears because I thought it would be too time-consuming. Every day gives me another reason to be joyful; a smile, a giggle, a cuddle,knowing that I’m the one that can comfort this little baby and nobody elsecan do that better than me. It truly is the most amazing feeling in theworld, I just want her to stay small forever, I get depressed every-time shegoes up a nappy size. There are always challenges, and different days have different challenges.It could be as simple as getting five minutes to have a shower or the babycould be ill and I wouldn’t have a clue what’s wrong. I just take each day asit comes and thank God when we get through it. It’s true what people saythough; I think I will worry abouther every minute of every dayfor the rest of my life.”

Martina & Cian, 8 months old
“I had no idea what to expect when I had Cian, andhad no idea how much my life would change. Myfreedom is gone in the sense that I am now responsible for someone else besides me, 24 hours a dayseven days a week. It’s so scary but you just deal with it,because in return I have received something else amazingin return… love!I‘d like to think that I haven’t changed as a person, butI have. It’s inevitable. I’m still me but I’m me as a mum.Life for us has definitely changed. Everything we do nowrevolves around Cian; we build our days and weeksaround him. Our Sundays, for example, pre-Cian usedto start with breakfast out, then the cinema in afternoon,maybe a takeaway that evening or dinner in Moran’s onthe Weir (our favourite place). We never planned anything, we just did everything.  Sounds lovely… and it was. Now our sundays arebreakfast at home, maybe a walk on the prom after, thenwe do our weekly shopping (all three of us) and we thenspend the rest of the day watching ‘come dine with me’while cooking Cian’s food for the week. Everything nowhas to be planned and pre-organised, to ensure we have astress-free working week to follow.  It’s still a lovely day, just different. Really the best wayfor me to describe how our lives have changed, is that weused to be a couple, but now we are a family… and wewould never go back, not for all the crabs claws in theworld. We love him.Just to see him happy brings me such joy; he’s such alittle giggler, and he is so much fun to play with. But Idon’t think anything can beat his smile, first thing in themorning, there it is looking back at you. I guess thatshim sealing the deal on his side to  get treated like a kingfor yet another day.Since becoming a mum I have a new admiration forall parents. People used to tell me we were in for a hardtime, sleepless nights etc. They were right; it is hardwork, harder than any job I’ve ever had  and yes it’sworth it… just like ‘they’ all said. So to my parents I’dlike to say a big thank you, especially my mum, fromone mum to another, I understand it all now.”

Related posts:

1. Keeping it real
2. The Secret to True Success
3. Be responsible for your own dating success

How would you describe the clothes you stock?
We carry an impressive collection of quality European
labels. We are passionate about what we sell and very
customer focused. We know our customers and can
remind them of purchases from previous seasons. They
do appreciate this. We offer them an enjoyable shopping
experience in very inviting surroundings.We are always
on hand to help and inspire whatever the occasion.
I have a fantastic team. Ciara, Maureen and Carmel are
hugely responsible for growing the business to the success
that it is today.
Colette Latchford
Lydon Court
Galway
091 563630
Colette Latchford is open
Monday to Saturday from 9am – 6pm
with late opening on Thursday and Friday.

Related posts:

1. Dressing the West…Martina Fallon
2. Dressing the West…Stephanie Lynch
3. Dressing the West – Tina Monroe

Courtney Cox has let the side down. Her new show, Cougartown, is an attempt to detail the tribulations of the older single woman, as if any of us needed reminding. It’s hard enough to be over 35, single, and live in a small city held ransom by twenty somethings in short skirts and high heels without Cox subjecting me to a CSI style forensic investigation of her excess elbow skin on a weekly basis.

A few weeks ago, I was talking to a good-looking guy in a pub. Up close I realised he was considerably younger than me, maybe by five or seven years. While he asked me questions, all I could think about was him thinking about my age. He had a brilliant view of the wrinkles around my eyes; there was that grey showing right at the top of my fringe. I moved my lips from side to side to take the emphasis off any wrinkles around my mouth. I was standing up straight and sucking in my stomach, afraid I might pass out. There was no room left in my head to muster up any sort of normal intelligent response. He was a gentleman, it has to be said, and he was very kind at dismissing me. When I finally got the hell out of there, I was struck with one major concern: am I a cougar?

The big cat predator is code for an older woman who goes after and sleeps with younger men. Cougartown’s humour is the locker room variety, and its female characters are obsessed with how they look, being single, and sex. The show seems less interested in the realities of being female and more like a warm-up to a mud-wrestling match. No big surprise: its two main writers are men. Cougartown seems to be the mutant child of Desperate Housewives and Sex and the City, both of which have teams of writers (Sex in the City’s were mostly women). I don’t expect Cougartown to be bone dry, but the opportunity for exploration and reflection seems to have gone the way of Cox’s integrity. And it begs the question exactly who is being preyed upon.

So I ballsed it up because I was too self-conscious of my age. The alleged rule of determining how low can you go in the dating game is to halve your age and add 7, which in my case is 23. Who makes these rules? How young is too young? What if the guy I talked to was 31, does that make me a cougar? What about 27? There seems to be a citywide crisis in available single men over 35, so it’s no surprise older women start looking at younger men. Only now, not only is she competing with younger women and thinking seriously about the 2 for 1 special down at the laser clinic, but also opening herself up to a vile label with a vague definition. It’s not enough to be more aware, more together, and, for the most part, more successful. The barometer of beauty is stuck firmly on youth. Cue the misogynistic male writers in Hollywood.

All this youth worship may be down to making babies. Theories have long been bandied around that fertile women are most attractive to men. For every Helen Mirren there are a hundred Penelope Cruzes. Even the hourglass figure, a revered symbol of beauty, is thought to be a predictor of high hormone levels, which in turn increases the likelihood of getting pregnant. The push to reproduce is so important and engrained that by the time a woman hits 40, hasn’t had a kid or two and is still single, there’s an assumption that there’s something wrong with either her womb or her head or both. Then so-called relationship experts tell us we’re just too damn picky and we’d better lower our expectations if we want to find a man, which doesn’t say much for what the experts think of the men. So we’re not young and fresh faced anymore, probably not fertile and less attractive because of it, and either we drop our standards or date a younger man to the chorus of distant snickering from the peanut gallery. We are damned if we do and damned if we don’t.

The cougar label is essentially just static to defer from the real question here: do women have a sell-by date? It seems the residents of Cougartown think we do.

In places where women don’t have equality, their main role is to bear children. Despite our success in obtaining equality, this idea persists as an underlying current. Negative media caricatures and the unreal obsession with youthful physical perfection propagate the idea that once a woman has reached a certain age, she’s an old maid or over the hill. The Elizabethans feared older unmarried women, the Victorians pitied us, and now it seems we’re ripe for ridicule. Rather than concentrating on the positives of what we have and what we’ve achieved, we’re encouraged to focus on what we’ve lost, what we are not, and what hangs in the balance.

The physical ideal is represented predominately by young woman, actresses, or models; most often all of the above. These careers depend largely on looks and the women who choose them are almost obliged to undergo Botox, plastic surgery, or the odd rib removal. But in the everyday world looking good is different from looking young. Most people become more confident, self aware, and happy with age, and nothing is more attractive than that. Wrinkles: be damned.

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1. Sex and the city…how it changed us
2. Be responsible for your own dating success
3. GALWAYnow on the shelves

How would you describe the clothes you stock?
The range of styles I stock includes elegant outfits for
weddings, the races, communion/confirmation to that
something different for smart/casual, funky yet elegant
day wear.

How do the women in the West differ in style from the
rest of the country?
I think the women in the West like to take pride in themselves.
They like to look nice and catch the eye, yet know
how to look good effortlessly.
Top style tips?
As always, my style tip would be to invest in a simple,
classic dress and accessorise it with heels and jewellery
and always wear the correct/appropriate underwear or
undergarment for your outfit.
When shopping for yourself what do you look for in an
outfit? Are you guided by colour, cut, shape or price?
When shopping for myself I would be guided by the cut
and shape of the garment, firstly to ensure that it would
enhance my shape, flatter my figure, yet be comfortable
to wear. Then it would be colour.

Your most extravagant purchase?
Let me see, oh yeah, a striking pink and black ball gown
I had commissioned from Irish designer, Claire
O’Connor from Dublin. I still love it to this day!

Sugar Pink Boutique
downstairs Corbett Court/Eyre Square
Centre, Galway 091 561233
info@sugarpink.ie

Related posts:

1. Dressing the West – Rosemarie Noone
2. Dressing the West…Martina Fallon
3. Dressing the West…Stephanie Lynch

Stephanie began her career in the industry helping out in a friend’s boutique in Chelsea, London called Birds! At the age of 26, Stephanie moved to Belfast and opened a boutique called ‘Groovey’ which was hugely successful. For the first five years in Groovey, Stephanie bought collections from young and up and coming Irish designers but in later years, as the industry changed she had to source collections from abroad.

How would you describe the clothes you stock?
We carry two phases of stock, one which incorporates
dressy, party and occasion wear. And the other phase
includes more casual daywear with layering of cottons
and fine knits. This way we ensure we have something for
every customer whatever the occasion, even if there is
none!

Top style tips?
Get more out of your tunics and leggings by adding
accessories to dress them up.

Who do you most admire in business?
I really admire the Karen Millen group for their quality
cuts and attention to detail yet still priced reasonably.

What item of clothing can you not live without?
I couldn’t live without my LBD.

Your most extravagant purchase?
A fabulous skirt and top by Natalie Garcon which cost
€1550!

Stephanie Lynch Boutique
39 Eyre Square
Galway
091 566383
stephanielynch_boutique@hotmail.com

Related posts:

1. Dressing the West…Martina Fallon
2. Dressing the West…Colette Latchford
3. Dressing the West – Tina Monroe

By Méabh McDonnell

Sunshine, holidays, beach towels and deckchairs deem only one other companion: a good book.  Here we have selected the best books for you to sit back and relax with all through the summer months.

The Truth About You by Melissa Hill

Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton

Dublin girl Melissa Hill proves that Irish towns are by no means quiet in her new novel. She tells the story of three different mothers-to-be and the trials and tribulations they face over the course of their pregnancies. Told with dark chocolate richness, this compelling story has a mystery at its centre and until you discover it, you won’t put it down.

Look Back in Hunger by Jo Brand

Publisher: Headline Review

British comedienne Jo Brand’s lavish autobiography doesn’t pull any punches. From hilarious anecdotes involving her least favourite motorways to moving accounts of life as a psychiatric nurse, mother and wife, this book gives a shocking and fresh voice to the laments and laughter of being a modern woman. With laugh out loud moments throughout, you’re guaranteed to be rolling around on your beach towel.

The Devil by Ken Bruen

Publisher: Transworld Ireland

For those of you who prefer a gripping crime caper to the life of  ‘modern woman’, Ken Bruen’s ‘The Devil’ is the book to make you sit up and pay attention. The chilling story follows PI Jack Taylor who prowls the streets of Galway on the trail of a killer with a sinister secret. The perfect antidote to any dreary days on your holiday, ‘The Devil’ will spice things up in no time.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Publisher: Penguin Classics

Finally, what better way to spend your holiday than bathing in the sunshine in the company of literature’s most sought after bachelor, Mr Darcy? Here we have the book that started it all…for without Lizzie Bennett there would be no Carrie Bradshaw. Get embroiled in the Bennett sister’s search for love and the hilarity, heartbreak and happy endings that ensue.

Each available at all good bookstores nationwide.

Photographed books supplied by Dubray Books, Shop Street, Galway.

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It is a fair rule of thumb that younger children have an excellent capacity to amuse themselves. Yet, the word bored is in the everyday vocabulary of teens today.

The easy option is to plant them in front of a television or maybe throw an Xbox controller into their hands but does that really benefit them?

Why not try out these ideas on how to keep your teens and maybe your tots occupied over the summer holidays…you may even find yourself enjoying them too.

1. Teach them to cook

Remember those college days when you had no idea how to cook and beans on toast was haute cuisine? There was nothing like mammy’s cooking at the end of a long and hungry week. Give your teenagers a head start on this front and teach them how to cook something simple but homely like Shepherd’s Pie. Not only will they pick up some useful, healthy eating tips but they may even cook you dinner in return.

2. Show them how you filled your summers and go back to being a child yourself

It can be hard to imagine how children get so bored when you remember your summer being filled with fun. This one will take some effort but it will be a great day out for you too. All you need is a barrel and a hill. Just hop in and get someone to push you down the hill. Afterwards, try walking on the barrel. It’s no end of fun and you can’t deny you did not do it.

3. If you can’t go camping, build a fort

It may be the summer but that doesn’t guarantee that the sun will shine. Camping is always fun but if weather does not permit, move the countryside indoors. Using any spare bedclothes and a few chairs for support, you can transform any living room into an untapped wilderness. With the younger children, pretend that the fort is a space craft and watch Star Wars in the fort.

4. Become involved in something they enjoy, even if you don’t completely approve

Experts say this and experts say that but there is nothing wrong with television or video games if they are used properly and their use monitored. Start watching a TV show that they watch, even if it is Jersey Shore. If they are more into their game consoles, then challenge them to a race.

5. Use their time off to your advantage too!

No child likes doing chores but if there was some kind of reward at the end of it then they are sure to start doing them. It doesn’t have to be money; it could be an extra half hour before bedtime or allowing them to have a sleepover with a friend. After all, it’s not bribery if both parties benefit.

The summer can be an action-packed time for children with such a huge choice of summer camps to choose from. It can be soccer this week and horse riding camp the next, but it’s also a time for parents to spend time with their children. It is becoming easier than ever to offload the clan onto someone else for a week but putting in the time and effort with your children will pay off. They will need time to themselves too, but look back on the times that your parents spent with you. They are most likely the times you remember fondly.

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3. Healthy Mental Health

A down-to-earth and charming man, Ken’s humble nature means he rarely bigs himself up. But having 28 novels behind him, and having just signed the deal on the filming of 11 of his movies here in Galway City over the next 11 years, he is one of Galway’s most valuable ambassadors.

Meanwhile, the filming of his novel London Boulevard has just been completed, with an all-star cast of Kiera Knightly, Colin Farrell, Anna Friel and Ray Winstone. A recent feature in Empire Magazine has dubbed it the “gangster movie of the year”.

It came about after Academy Award-Winner William Monahan, the man behind The Departed and Body of Lies called Ken up one day saying he’d read his novel, loved it, and wanted to direct, produce and write the screenplay for it. “I almost fell off my chair when I heard Bill on the line. Then I heard who the cast was; it was just after ‘In Bruges’, which I think is a brilliant masterpiece. I thought Colin Farrell’s on top of his game and that’s just really lucky. And there isn’t a guy on the planet who’s going to object to Kiera Knightly. But they’ve deliberately kept it all low-key.”

You’d imagine that the excitement of being whisked around the world to glittering high profile events in LA, New York, Japan and Europe would put a stop to his work for a while, but Ken’s not one to fall for the fantasy. “I make the time to write no matter what’s going on. If I’m on tour, I just say, there’s three or four hours I have to have by myself. It’s very easy to get out of the habit. And it’s a great break for me to write, and it also stops me buying into the hype, thinking, ‘Here I am in LA, and I’m really shit hot’, or something. It stops all of that nonsense. And I say to myself, you’d better produce the goods, because this is what got you to here and if you want to keep doing it, you’ll want to keep producing. And there’s so many writers out there, you just have to keep going.”

Having just finished number ten in his critically acclaimed Jack Taylor series, there are no plans to call a halt just yet. “As soon as it gets stale, it will finish and God knows I’ll know. As soon as it sounds as same old same, same old thing, then I’ll stop. I did that with the English series, I stopped on book seven.” A self-confessed failed actor, Ken actually played a priest in Blitz, the film based on the book of the same name from the English series. “I spent a week administering my priestly functions to Jason Statham. It was just crazy; I loved it.”

Ken was 17 when he got accepted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, but his father’s lack of approval, which he admits he craved after all his life, sent him in the direction of college. “I always had ambitions to be an actor. I think that’s why I became an English language teacher. They say the best English language teachers are failed actors.” When he finally got a chance to act in a couple of Roger Colman movies about seven years ago, he realised that his failed actor status was for a good reason. “When I watched the movies back on DVD, I realised I was the worst actor I ever saw in my life – awful. I even showed the movies to my friends, everyone came around to the house, and they all went, ‘Jesus, you’re brutal; you’re just so bad.’ My friends don’t pull any stops. They’re Irish, they don’t build you up.”

Ken Bruen with his daughter Grace

If Ken Bruen ever had reason to suffer from the beast of writer’s doubt, that slate should be wiped clean with his latest success. A special nod could also be made to the first agent he ever had at Curtis Brown who told him he’d never be anything but a cult writer. “I believed her. She said the way you write and the kind of stuff you write, there’s never going to be a huge market for it. So make sure you stay teaching. She was in the business she knew. In my wildest dreams, I never believed that a film would be made of my works.” Makes the signing of the deal for 11 Jack Taylor Movies in the next decade (which incidentally he fought to have filmed in Galway), even more sweet no doubt.

The first movie of the series called ‘Jack Taylor’, will be shown in September. His fourth film to come from his novels – ‘The King of the Tinkers’ starts shooting this month, and a movie is currently in the pipeline from his first kids’ book, ‘Peter and his Magic Pencil’.

And to add a few more accolades to Galway’s most successful modern writer, he has been nominated for a number of prestigious awards in recent months. There’s the ‘Best Crime Novel of the Decade’ Barry Awards 2010 for ‘The Guards’, where he’s up against Stieg Larsson’s ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’. ‘Tower’ is also up for three other international awards at the moment.

So what now? “Someone recently asked me if I was going to retire, leave Galway, and I just thought, Are you crazy? What else am I going to do? My family’s here, all my friends are here. I can move around and nobody bothers me. It hasn’t changed my life this far, and I don’t think it’s going to change it now. I have too many friends who would bring me down to earth and if I ever got a notion in my head, they’d quickly rid me of that. And if it all stopped in the morning, well certainly I’ve had a great run, I’ve enjoyed it, and boy have I been lucky.”

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2. Great Summer Reads
3. Hotting things up

Renowned for their style, sophistication and sense of fashion, the women of the West know how to dress to impress. But behind each stunning piece is a woman who spends her life putting that fabulous outfit together.

Rosemarie Noone of GossamerGirl.com has always
had an interest in style and in the arts in general. She met
and worked with a lot of young American designers while
attending Art School in Chicago and used to work on fashion
events. When she moved to New York she discovered
some great designers and fell in love with the Meg label.
When she returned to Ireland Rosemarie opened a shop with her sister in Dublin’s Royal Hibernian Way selling the Meg
label exclusively. The label remains core to her collection
but she now sells a range of other – mostly American
designers and a lot of modestly priced accessories on
GossamerGirl.com
What is the biggest challenge you have faced to date in
your business?
Something that I was not initially aware of is that my clothes
are quite niche. The aesthetic that I lean towards is a kind of
pared down sophistication and classic glamour that is chic
but not showy. There is a ready market in Ireland for fussy
clothes and my biggest challenge to date has been the cultivation
of a clientele who appreciate understated fashion-forward
design. Through my website, GossamerGirl.com, I
have widened my market and so far there has been a huge
improvement in sales.
How do the women in the West differ in style from the rest
of the country?
I guess I can only compare shoppers in my Mayo boutique
with those that shopped in my boutique in Dublin.
Shoppers here show confidence in their style and appreciate
the integrity of the garments and I notice that people in
Mayo are very interested in textiles and the quality of the
fabrics. Overall I would say that they are less label oriented
than Dublin shoppers and very confident in their own sense
of style.
Who is your favourite designer?
It changes all the time but right now my favourite designer
is Zac Posen.
Your most extravagant purchase?
A limited edition Zac Posen handbag was probably my
biggest splurge lately.
Top style tips?
Wear what suits your shape and budget and reflects your
sense of self.
Who is your style icon?
I hate to be clichéd in my opinion but it has got to be a toss
up between Audrey and Marilyn!
GossamerGirl.com
Mount Street, Claremorris Co Mayo
094 93 77783
www.GossamerGirl.com

Related posts:

1. Dressing the West – Tina Monroe
2. Dressing the West…Martina Fallon
3. Dressing the West…Stephanie Lynch